Romney confident of Florida victory

And well he should be. The latest evidence is a poll from Quinnipiac that shows Mitt with a 14 point lead over Gingrich, 43-29.Romney appears to have righted his ship and is now on cruise control. The New York Times:

Mitt Romney swept through a final day of campaigning here on Monday, energized by more polls showing him with a commanding lead in the Florida primary. He even allowed himself to break superstition and proclaim, "I'm beginning to feel we might win.

Yet Mr. Romney could not help sneaking regular looks back at Newt Gingrich, who only a week ago seemed in position to deal him another big loss. In what amounted to a campaign record for the "Fastest Attack on a Republican Rival During a Campaign Stop," he went after Mr. Gingrich in the first 30 seconds of a speech in Jacksonville in the morning, saying, "He was paid $1.6 million to be a lobbyist for Freddie Mac," and adding, "Send him to the moon!"

Mr. Romney is not just playing to win here, but to win as big as possible, aides said, preferably by more than the 12-point margin Mr. Gingrich had in the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21. The Romney team wants to do so not just for bragging rights or out of ego, but to try to stave off a protracted nomination fight and undercut Mr. Gingrich's promise to take the campaign all the way to the convention here in August.

That's not in the cards. Newt is an angry man and appears to want his revenge against Romney by making the primaries a bruising Death March rather than a triumphal procession to coronation. And when Obama comes back in the fall using most of Gingrich's anti-Romney talking points to savage the Republican nominee, will the GOP ever forgive Newt for putting personal revenge ahead of the good of the party and the nation?

Probably not. About the only job he'll be able to get is a greeter at Tiffany's.

And well he should be. The latest evidence is a poll from Quinnipiac that shows Mitt with a 14 point lead over Gingrich, 43-29.

Romney appears to have righted his ship and is now on cruise control. The New York Times:

Mitt Romney swept through a final day of campaigning here on Monday, energized by more polls showing him with a commanding lead in the Florida primary. He even allowed himself to break superstition and proclaim, "I'm beginning to feel we might win.

Yet Mr. Romney could not help sneaking regular looks back at Newt Gingrich, who only a week ago seemed in position to deal him another big loss. In what amounted to a campaign record for the "Fastest Attack on a Republican Rival During a Campaign Stop," he went after Mr. Gingrich in the first 30 seconds of a speech in Jacksonville in the morning, saying, "He was paid $1.6 million to be a lobbyist for Freddie Mac," and adding, "Send him to the moon!"

Mr. Romney is not just playing to win here, but to win as big as possible, aides said, preferably by more than the 12-point margin Mr. Gingrich had in the South Carolina primary on Jan. 21. The Romney team wants to do so not just for bragging rights or out of ego, but to try to stave off a protracted nomination fight and undercut Mr. Gingrich's promise to take the campaign all the way to the convention here in August.

That's not in the cards. Newt is an angry man and appears to want his revenge against Romney by making the primaries a bruising Death March rather than a triumphal procession to coronation. And when Obama comes back in the fall using most of Gingrich's anti-Romney talking points to savage the Republican nominee, will the GOP ever forgive Newt for putting personal revenge ahead of the good of the party and the nation?

Probably not. About the only job he'll be able to get is a greeter at Tiffany's.